


Bring Me Home At Last

by HunterByDayWhovianByNight



Series: Love Is A Mighty (Strong) Thing [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Fluff without Plot, M/M, Medical Procedures, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 11:23:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14135064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HunterByDayWhovianByNight/pseuds/HunterByDayWhovianByNight
Summary: "The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.” —Audrey HepburnAll Steve wanted was to be with Bucky again.





	Bring Me Home At Last

**Author's Note:**

> I love them so much. That is all. Title is from "Journey To The Past" by Lynn Ahrens from Anastasia.
> 
> ~Hunter
> 
> P.S.: My marvel twitter is @lotuslang !

Steve gasped and almost fell over when he saw Bucky,  _ his  _ Bucky, lying slack-jawed and drugged out beyond belief on the cot in the post-operation room. There was a new metal arm, likely a vibranium one designed by Shuri herself, fitted to Bucky’s old stump. Bucky just looked so helpless and lonely in the stark white room. Steve didn’t even know that Bucky wasn’t in cryo-sleep anymore. Granted, these last few missions were longer than usual and he wasn’t able to radio or call the base in Wakanda, so it made sense. But still- Bucky was in Steve’s protection and Steve wished he could’ve been there with him before the surgery. 

Sore and exhausted, Steve gingerly crawled up onto Bucky’s cot and a put protective arm around the other man’s middle. He tried not to disrupt the delicate stitches Shuri gave him only minutes before on his bicep and settled next to Bucky’s sleeping body, hoping he wouldn’t wake him. Bucky still smelled the same- slightly like cloves, a little musky. He was never able to do  _ this  _ when they were back in the 1940s, sleep curled up next to each other. It brought Steve peace to do so, and he shut his eyes to allow his other senses to come into play as he lay with Bucky. 

Bucky woke some time later, groggy and hazy from the drugs. He felt the familiar, heavy weight of a metal arm on the left side of his body. This one was slightly lighter than the one before, no doubt due to it being made mostly of vibranium, and he tested it out, rippling the fingers and clenching his fist. He flexed his whole arm, hearing the little gears and motors  _ whirrrr _ quicker when he did so. The spaces between the plates glowed a rich, golden yellow. Good. Never a red, Soviet star on his bicep again. Maybe he’d ask Shuri to put a white star there instead, for Steve. 

Steve. 

Bucky looked to his right side, felt the warmth emanating from Steve’s body through his thin hospital gown. Bucky smiles widely, feeling tears rush to his eyes when he looks down at Steve’s sleeping, barely conscious form. Steve has a beard now, and his hair is a few shades darker. He did say he was going into hiding; it only makes sense for him to look different. But  _ God,  _ when Shuri said he looked different, he didn’t know it was going to be  _ this  _ different. 

Before now, Bucky had never noticed how attractive teve was. Seeing him as Captain America had been a shock; he wasn’t able to really digest it. Then there was the time he saw him as the Winter Soldier and then two years ago. He was so gorgeous, all tall and blond and muscular. Seeing Steve at rest, curled up to his side like a child and his mother, warms his heart. The last times he’s seen Steve, he’s been in motion, fighting, anxious. When Steve was with him before he went into cryo, he was worried. He was emotional. They kissed; Bucky really hoped that it wasn’t just a one-off thing because looking down at Steve’s lips right now makes him  _ want.  _

With a slight nudge, Steve woke up, his clear blue eyes drowsy. Steve rubbed his eyes and looked up at Bucky, who was awake and smiling. He shifted up so that his eyes were level with Bucky’s. There was a brief pause, where they’re both silent and just breathing, before one of them said something. 

“Hi,” Steve said. There was a dumb, adorable grin on his face, one that Bucky hadn’t seen since the 40s. 

“Hi,” Bucky said back, the same smile forming on his face. There weren’t words to describe how he felt looking at Steve. The months on ice made him weary. 

“It’s nice to see you again, Buck,” Steve said, his voice a little breathless. Steve moved a stray piece of hair out of Bucky’s eyes and behind his ear, his hand skimming Bucky’s stubbled cheek. Bucky’s smile turned a bashful as he preened under Steve’s attention and affection. 

“It’s nice to see you,” Bucky replied, wrapping an arm around Steve’s chest, bringing him close to embrace him. Steve smelled like that age-old  _ Steve  _ smell that he always adored. 

“Wasn't sure if I was going to see you again. When you mentioned you were going to go on missions-”

“I had to come back home to my best guy.”

_ Best guy.  _ Steve knew it was cheesy, but he loved Bucky. He felt no shame in calling him that at all. Bucky turned pink upon hearing him Steve call him his “best guy” and he took Steve’s hand in his metal one. Steve squeezed it and brought it up to his nose, booping the vibranium knuckle with the tip of his nose. 

“You like the new arm?” Steve asked, observing its new differences. 

“It’ll take getting used to, but I like it a lot more than the old one,” Bucky said, testing it out like he had earlier, flexing it and hearing the  _ whirr _ . “I want a white star on it. For you.”

Steve’s Heart twinged. He knew how much Bucky wanted him to take it up again, but Steve told Bucky before the freeze that it wouldn’t be possible. He’s changed too much. It would be a new kind of Captain America, if anything, but he wouldn’t be recognizable. 

“You know I’m not Captain America anymore, Buck,” Steve said solemnly. 

“I know. But I still want one for you,” Bucky said, nestling his head in Steve’s shoulder. “I love you.”

Steve immediately felt a smile pull on his lips. “I love you, too.”

Steve turned his head to look Bucky in his baby blue eyes, admiring the man beside him. He took Bucky’s stubbled cheek in his hand and brought him in for a short kiss, one full of love and fire and everything Steve could want in a kiss. 

“Welcome home.”

**Author's Note:**

> me, in ya brain: kudos/comment on this fic  
> you: but why  
> me, in ya brain: you gotta
> 
> ~Hunter


End file.
